Lipase
An enzyme from the pancreas that helps digest fat. It is checked in the blood when belly pain may involve the pancreas, and it is more specific than amylase.
AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert reviewAlso called LIPLOINC 3040-3
Check your result
The usual range for Lipase depends on sex. Choose female or male above to see where you stand.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser.
What it is
Lipase is an enzyme that helps your body break down and absorb fat from food. Most of it is made by the pancreas and released into the small intestine, with smaller amounts coming from the salivary glands and the stomach. A blood test measures the small amount that reaches your bloodstream. When cells in the pancreas are damaged or inflamed, they release more lipase.
Why it matters
Lipase is the blood test doctors usually prefer when they want to know whether the pancreas is inflamed. It is more specific than amylase and stays raised longer after a flare. A very high result can be a sign of acute pancreatitis, but many other digestive and kidney conditions can raise it a little. It is read together with your symptoms and other tests.
If it’s low
A lipase result below your lab's range is uncommon and usually has no clear meaning on its own. Very low levels can reflect long-standing damage to the cells in the pancreas that make lipase.
Common causes
- Long-lasting pancreas conditions, such as chronic pancreatitis or cystic fibrosis
What can help
- Ask your clinician whether the result fits your health history
If it’s high
A mildly high lipase has many possible causes, and it does not point to the pancreas by itself. In guidelines for acute pancreatitis, a level above three times your lab's upper limit is one of three criteria, along with typical belly pain and imaging, and two of the three are needed. In some people, such as those with diabetes, milder rises can happen without pancreatitis. Your clinician will read the result with your symptoms and sometimes imaging.
Common causes
- Reduced kidney function
- Some medicines, including opioid pain medicines, thiazide diuretics, birth control pills, indomethacin and certain cholesterol medicines
- Diabetes
- Salivary gland problems
- Digestive problems, such as a blocked bowel, a peptic ulcer, celiac disease or gallbladder disease
- Alcohol use disorder
- Pancreas problems, such as acute pancreatitis, a blocked duct, a cyst or pancreatic cancer
What can help
- Ask your clinician whether a medicine you take could explain the result
- Ask whether a repeat test or imaging would help if the number is only mildly high
- If you were told to fast or avoid alcohol before the test, follow those instructions
Usual ranges
What labs print as the reference range, by who was tested. Ranges differ a little between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against.
The usual range depends on sex and age. Choose women or men to see the one that applies.
- Men, 18+13–78 U/L
Sources: Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (National Library of Medicine)
- Women, 18–7014–72 U/L
Sources: Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (National Library of Medicine)
- Women, 71+14–85 U/L
Source: Labcorp
See Lipase by age and sex, with the U.S. survey numbers where they exist.
If this applies to you
Lipase means a little more for some people. Open the one that fits you.
On a GLP-1 medicine
Lipase, a pancreas enzyme, can rise on these medicines. The Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound labels say the meaning of a rise without other signs of pancreatitis is unknown, and none of the four labels calls for routine lipase tests. Instead they ask clinicians to watch for symptoms, such as severe or lasting belly pain that sometimes spreads to the back.
What can affect your result
- Age and sex: Labcorp prints separate ranges for children, men, women under 71 and women 71 and older
- Kidney function: reduced kidney function can raise lipase
- Medicines: birth control pills, opioid pain medicines, thiazide diuretics and others
- Fasting: MedlinePlus suggests fasting for 8 hours before the test
- Method: upper limits are about 60 U/L at Mayo, 72 to 85 U/L at Labcorp and 160 U/L in MedlinePlus
- MedlinePlus lists birth control pills, cholinergic medicines, indomethacin, opioid pain medicines and thiazide diuretics as medicines that can affect the result. Do not stop any medicine unless your clinician tells you to.
- Fasting advice differs by source: MedlinePlus suggests 8 hours, and its test page mentions 8 to 12 hours. Follow the instructions you were given.
- Urine is not a suitable specimen for lipase, because lipase activity is usually absent from urine (Labcorp).
In acute pancreatitis lipase rises within hours, and it stays raised longer than amylase does.
When to talk to a clinician
Get urgent medical care for severe belly pain that does not ease or spreads to your back, especially with repeated vomiting, fever or yellowing of the skin or eyes. Houston Methodist's hospital laboratory lists a lipase of 1,000 U/L or more as a critical value that must be reported to the care team right away, though other hospitals use different limits. If you have a result that high and have not heard from your clinician, call them today.
Questions you could ask
- Why was this test ordered, and which other results should I look at with it?
- Could a medicine, my kidney function or another condition explain this result?
- Do I need a repeat test or imaging to follow it up?
- Does this low result fit my health history, or does it need any follow-up?
Questions people ask
Why do doctors often prefer lipase to amylase?
Lipase is more specific to the pancreas and stays raised longer after a flare. Guidelines for acute pancreatitis prefer it for those reasons, though both tests are sometimes ordered together.
My lipase is only a little above the range. Does that mean pancreatitis?
Not necessarily. Kidney function, some medicines, diabetes and digestive conditions can all raise lipase a little. Guidelines for acute pancreatitis look for levels above three times the upper limit together with typical belly pain. Your clinician can tell you whether a repeat test makes sense.
Why do the ranges differ so much between labs?
Labs use different methods and reference groups. Mayo Clinic Laboratories lists 13–60 U/L, Labcorp lists 13–78 U/L for men and 14–72 U/L for women under 71, and MedlinePlus gives 0–160 U/L. Use the range printed on your own report.
Show the science and sources
Units
- 1 U/L = 1 U/L
- 1 U/L = 0.01667 µkat/L
Open the Lipase unit converter
Is a change real?
Lipase naturally varies about 7.7% from test to test in the same healthy person. Between two results from the same lab, a change of roughly 28% or more is unlikely to be day-to-day noise or lab variation (95% reference change value). Source: The European Biological Variation Study (EuBIVAS): a summary report.
For clinicians and researchers
Lipase is secreted mainly by the pancreas, and Labcorp and Mayo both measure it with a colorimetric method. Published limits vary widely: Mayo 13–60 U/L, Labcorp 13–78 U/L for men and 14–72 or 14–85 U/L for women, and MedlinePlus 0–160 U/L. In the 2024 ACG guideline, serum lipase is more specific than amylase, stays elevated longer, and is the preferred test. Diagnosis of acute pancreatitis needs two of three features: typical pain, amylase and/or lipase above three times the upper limit, and characteristic imaging. Once the diagnosis is made the guideline sees no reason to follow lipase, because the level does not track severity or prognosis. Lipase also rises in non-pancreatic disease, and a cut-off of three to five times the upper limit may be needed in groups such as people with diabetes. Labcorp notes that serum lipase is usually normal when amylase is raised for reasons such as peptic ulcer, salivary adenitis, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal obstruction or macroamylasemia, and that a high amylase with a normal lipase can be a clue to macroamylasemia. Critical limits are not standardized: Houston Methodist lists 1,000 U/L or more, St. Louis Children's Hospital lists 600 U/L or more in adults, and other hospitals list none.
LOINC 3040-3 (primary). Specimen: serum-or-plasma.
Sources
- Lipase (test 001404), Labcorp
- Lipase, Serum (test LPS), Mayo Clinic Laboratories
- Lipase test, MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (National Library of Medicine)
- Lipase Tests, MedlinePlus Medical Tests (National Library of Medicine)
- American College of Gastroenterology Guidelines: Management of Acute Pancreatitis, American Journal of Gastroenterology (2024)
- Diagnostic Laboratories: Critical Values, Houston Methodist
- Lipase (test LAB99), St. Louis Children's Hospital Test Catalog, St. Louis Children's Hospital
AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review. Last reviewed 2026-10-03. How we build and check these pages.